VOICE OVER: Week 3 Kicks Off With Lots of Soul!

Tonight's episode of The Voice was packed with ridiculously talented singers of all ages and backgrounds! With so many potential rock stars, the decision was hard for coaches Christina Aguilera, Adam Levine, Cee Lo Green, and Blake Shelton.

The night started with Michele Brooks Thompson, a bank teller who had been told by many friends as well as her supportive husband that she absolutely had to audition for The Voice. Hoping that her dream would not be shut down, she totally let loose as she sang "Proud Mary," and to great avail. It didn't take long for Adam and Cee Lo to push their buttons, and Christina soon followed suit. Adam told her, "I'm impressed by things I can't do. You have an ability to do something that seems supernatural to me. I'd be blessed to work with you. I think you're incredible." With praise like that, she couldn't possibly say no. Michelle said "My heart has to go with Adam." When Adam realized he had been picked, he did a victory dance in his seat.

Diego Val age 25 had quite a story to tell about overcoming physical obstacles. He overcame a disease that was basically supposed to damage the hip bone until he couldn't walk anymore. While he was hospitalized for a long time, his grandmother gave him a guitar. When he got well, he decided to give back and sing to kids in the hospital. Tonight, he sang "Animal" by Neon Trees with his own fun, slow style, putting his own spin on it by singing in his native tongue for a little while. By default, Diego was added to Cee Lo's team, though Christina also said, "He's hot!"

Lauren Brooke, age 24 struggled with dyslexia in a big way when she was younger, which caused her to be shy. But when she learned to sing, everything changed. She gained a lot of confidence. That confidence definitely showed through in her version of Carrie Underwood's "Cowboy Cassanova." However, confidence was not all she needed to move on to the next round, so the coaches did not push their buttons.

A music teacher for very young children, Suzanna Choffel thought this was her time to step up from teaching music and actually put it into practice for herself. She sang "Landslide" by Stevie Nicks, and within less than ten seconds, Adam eagerly pushed the red button, then Blake did so as well. The latter told her, "You did a rock song with a little bit of a country flair to it. I want to get you where you need to go, and I think that could the the final." Adam told her, "It's hard for something to sound refreshingly unique, and that's what I heard from you," and she chose Blake, to Adam's obvious surprise.

Though their full performances were not aired, Blake gained two more singers: 16-year-old Michaela Paige, who sang "Sober," and Ryan Jirovec after his performance of "Amazed."

The next contestant was a very cute 22-year-old audience favorite, who brought to mind the British boy band One Direction in looks. Though coming into these auditions was very intimidating because Dez Duron unsuccessfully auditioned last year, he said, "The Voice is an unbelievable opportunity, I'm never going to back down from something because it's a little scary." Amid the sound of young girls screaming with excitement, he sang "Sara Smile" by Hall and Oates. Blake pushed the button almost immediately; Christina pushed it next, then Cee Lo did the same. After his performance, Dez had to ask the girls in the audience to stop screaming so he could tell the judges how much he admired them. The coaches were practically falling over themselves with compliments for him. Cee Lo told him, "It felt so genuine! You really succeeded! We'd be a perfect fit because soul music is my thing." Trying to combat that and promote herself, Christina said, "Soul is my thing too! For your voice, the sky is the limit!" Blake gave up beating around the bush and just came right out and said what everyone was thinking, "This dude is good-looking. I'm man enough to say this to you: man-to-man, you're hot! You reminded me of... Elvis!" Adam sat back laughing at all of them, telling Dez, "I'm pretty sure all three of them want to date you." He finally made his decision, choosing to join Team Christina.

VJ, the next singer, taught music lessons at Silverlake Conservatory. "I want to take the next step from being a teacher, to becoming a full-fledged performer." Because of his love for Cee Lo, he chose to sing Cee Lo's "Forget You" in his own jazz style, hoping to be picked by the artist himself. No one ended up pushing the button, but Cee Lo joined VJ on stage after the performance and sang it with him. The way this guy was looking when he left, I'm pretty sure he forgot that he hadn't been picked by any of the coaches.

About Author

Sally Henry is a BroadwayWorld contributor based in Georgia who manages the News Desk on the weekends, including the weekly #SIP roundups. She also writes weekly features ranging from historically-based reflections to interviews with all the cool kids in the industry. She takes pride in her ginger hair and in being *that* friend who actually loves The Scarlet Pimpernel musical.

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